Aeroplane.



Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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' H. R. WARD.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12. 1913.

H. R. WARD.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICAHON FILED NOV. 12, 1913.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

NN x w H. R. WARD.

v AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, I913.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

HUMPHREY R. WARD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

AEROPLANE.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUMPHREY a citizen of the United States, residin at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga, tate of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a tull, clear, and exact description of the nvention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same. i

This invention relates to aeroplanes. It is well known that in. the construction of devices of this character one of the most important, if not the vital point of all, is the insuring of stability in the device so that if, by reason of accident or inadvertence the machine becomes misplaced from its proper position in the air noserious results may take place. Th1s stability may be attained either by automatic stablhzmg devices or, as in the present instance, by so arranging; the machine itself that it possesses inherent stability. Moreover, inmachines of this description such inherent stability depends to a great extent on the .precise arrangement and angular relation of the planes, ailerons, rudders and fins and the arrangements at present in usevary greatly in the degree of their stability.

The principal object of the presentinvention is to provide an aeroplane of improved construction wherein the planes will be so arranged as to effect a superior or inherent'stability-in the machine. In the production of this result there is provided a novel arrangement and form of. main plane which are so devised that whenever themachine tilts laterally to a degree sufiicient to produce slight sliding movement sidewise an upward pressure on the-lower end and a downward pressure on the upper end of the lower plane will be produced with a resultant restorin of the machine to its proper position in the air. 'This object is furthermore attained by so arranging a main plane and the elevating plane of a machine that they are both substantially at the same dihedral angle. Still further assistance in the attainment of the objects is obtained" by arrangin the ends of a main plane, the side of the e evating planes, and the ailerons so that, in the normal position of said ailerons and elevating planes, all of these plan'esonone side of the machine are Specification of Letters Patent.

R. WARD;

sition of the Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Application filed Novpmoer 12, 1913. Serial Nd. 800,635.

parallel, the planes on the other side of the machine are parallel and all arranged with their side portions at equal dihedral angles.

Another object to .be accomplished in this invention is to provide ailerons, so arranged with respect to the main plane of the ma-' chine that during banking the lower ailerons will be in a substantially horizontal position so that when manlpulated by the operator in resumingstr-aight flight the stabilization will'be quickly efi'ected.

It is also well known that'the relative poropelle'r and stabilizing devices such as us and the'like exert a great influence on the stability of the machine.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved fin arrangement which is so positioned withrespect tothe propeller, and withrespect to Y the propeller and main planes or plane, that degree; of stabilization will be efa hig fected: v

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in eneral of certain noveldetails of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described.

illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and specificallyc'laimed.

In the accompanying drawings, like characters "of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and Figure 1 is a plan view of a biplaneembodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a'front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevatioirof the device. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through the device. Fig. 5 is adetail perspective view of the elevating planes and the manner of mounting the same. ,Fig.' 6 is a front diagrammatic View illustrating the action .of the air current on the machine when tilted. vFig. 7 is a diagrammatic view in plan illustrating the action of the. air current when the machine shifts from its proper direction. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2.

In carrying out the objects of the invention there is provided an upper main plane 110 the lateral portions of which are in alinement and a lower main plane 11 the lateral portions of which are arranged at a dihedral angle with respect to each other. These two planes are, in cross section, of the usual curved stream line contour. In plan the utpper plane is rectangular and consists of a rame comprising the cross ribs 12 conframe being covered with a suitable covering element l t properly attached to the frame so that the required degree of rigidity is attained. The lower plane 11 is, as previously mentioned, of the dihedral type. This planeconsists of a skeleton frame composed .of the cross ribs 15 and longitudinal bars 16 which support the covering element 17 applied as to the upper plane. The central portion 18 of this plane is arranged par allel to the plane 10 while the ends 19 of the lower ,plane incline upwardly toward the upper plane and terminate in vertical. alinement with the ends of the upper plane. Moreover the angle of the plane ends 1.) is such that the tips of these planes lie substantially half way between the plane of the portion 18 of the lower plane and the upper plane. \Vhen the planes are in this arrangement and tilting takes place, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the air current which enters between the two planes at the end thereofwill be deflected from the upper plane and strike the lower plane on the opposite side beyond the center. There is thus produced an upward pressure on the lower end of the upper plane and a downward pressure on the upper side of the lower plane. When both planes are arranged at the same dihedral angle or when both planes are parallel and straight the air current entering at the lower end of the plane simply flows along the upper plane, when both are straight or when both are at the same dihedral angle this air current is' deflected and strikes the lower plane either at the center or at the lower side of said lower plane, thus being ineffective in its deflected portion to restore the machine to even keel.

The upper; and'lower frames are connected by- Vertical struts 20 which are suitably braced bystay wires 21. Inthe present instance the machine is of the-headless type and is controlled from the tail carried by the body of the machine and which is supported on a frame comprising Outriggers 22 ex tending from the upper frame rearwardly'.

and connected-at their rear ends by a cross bar This frame furthermore includes lower outrigger-s 24 also connected at their rear end by a cross bar 25,.both cross bars being connected by outer vertical bars 26 and a central vertical bar 27. This central vertical bar extends in the plane of the cen- Y tral longitudinal axis of the machine. Connecting thebars 26 with the bar 27 is apair of rods 30 which are arranged at an angle with respect to each other, said angle correspondingto the'dihedral angle of the lower main plane. means of eyes 30f are the elevating planes Q8 and 29whichv are of rhomboidal contour and are thus arranged one on each side of the bar 27 and lie parallel to the lower main Secured to these bars 30 by.

plane when the elevatingplanes are in their normal or horizontally guiding position and the machine is viewed from in front.

By means of this arrangement the pressure on the tail or elevating plane will be made more nearly equal to the pressure on the lower main plane when the machine is.

tilted with respect to the variationin pressure on opposite ends of said lower main ing plane.

The verticalrudder 34 is disposed in ad; vance of the elevating planes, and in neutral position, extends in the plane of .the longitudinal axis ofthe machine asis usual with'devices of this description. This vertical rudder is hinged at its forward edge to cross bars 35 which connect the upper and lower Outriggers in pairs respectively, and 1s controlled by the usual wires 36 and 37 operatively connected to the control standards 33. i

The ailerons are indicated at 38 and 39 and are arranged one at each end of the main planes of the n'iachine and normally extend parallel with the related endsof the lower main plane which is arranged at'a dihedral angle. The ailerons thus slope toward each other and thus form a dihedral angle similar to the dihedral'angle-of said plane. These ailerons are located substantially midway between the outer ends of the lower and upper planes and project laterally beyond the plane for a distanceabout onethird of, the width of the ailerons while they pro]ect inwardly for a. distance about two thirds of their width. In orderto hold these ailerons 'in position on the frame the outer struts 20 are connected by bars 40 at each side of'the machine so arrangedthat the bars are parallel with the front edges of the end portions. of the lower main plane. These ailerons are adapted to be moved simultaneously in opposite directions byvcontrol wires 41 and 42 which are operatively connected to a swinging frame 43 within which the operator sits and sways to the right or left in the usual manner as the machine.

moves off an even field and is inclined laterally in one direction'or the other.

Again referring to Fig. 6 a will be noted that when the machine is in the position indicated in that figure the outer end of the lower of the ailerons receiyes the impact of the air current as the machine dropssidewise and that this air current is'led in be tween the 'upper and lower planes and passesup'ward to strike the upper plane about half way distant from the extremity of said upper plane to the center of the same. At this point the air current is deflected downward and strikes principally.

falling of'the machine exerts a greater force on this side of the machine than on the other side thereof and thus tends automatically to restore the stability, this efi'ectbeing assisted by the action of the dihedral elevating plane. 1 Moreover, when the aileron at the lower portion of the machine is nearly horizontal the moving of this aileron to raise this lower side by depressing its rear edge, will operate more effectively than where the aileron is inclined, as for instance if it were parallel to the straight upper plane. The reason of this is that the angle of incidence of the rising air and the lower aileron issubstantially a right angle, the

pressure upward thus being substantially normal to said aileron. In order to assist in this transverse stabilization and also in order to more particularly stabilize the direction of movement of the machine forwardly there is provided a certain fin arrangement. This stabilizing is accomplished by means of a vertical fin 44. which is mounted in upright position in the center of and on the top face of the upper main plane. It

is to be noted that the upper main plane extends slightly over the propeller 45 and that the lower main plane is cut away at 50 to accommodate the sweep of the propeller blade in passing through its lower arc of motion. This fin is so arranged that it projects rearwardly of the upper main plane and begins at the forward'edge of said upper main plane In the present showing there has been illustrated a triangular fin which rests on its hypotenuse 'and has its right angle 46 extending upwardly to form the apex, this right angle being located substantially over the propeller 45 as above noted. hen thus arranged it is found that the air currents, during the flight of the machine, when the latter deflects from its forward course strike this fin and pass through a course, substantially that of the arrows indicated. in Fig. 7, so that the rudder 3- reeeives the impact of the current and the machine strai'ghtens out on" its course. In this connection it is explained that, referring to Fig. ,7, the line of motion of the aeroplane is indicated by the arrows to the right 'andleft hand side of the figure. The aeroplane is shown in a position such as it will assume when skidding, that 1s, while moving forwardly in the direction of the arrows referred to it will also be turned about the vertical axis through the middle pointof the plane 10 and consequently the currentof air which moves parallel butin the reverse direction to the line of movement of the aeroplane strikes against the plane or pin 44 and is consequently deflected as indicated by the arrows but tends to straighten out into the line of motion of the aeroplane.

The body of the machine is supported upon the usual running gear 27 and as usual in biplanes the engine 48 is supported in rear of the operators seat 43 upon a bed frame 49..

From the foregoing it will be obvious that in the machine, thus provided, there is an inherent stability due to the peculiar arrangement of the two main planes, the ailerons, the tail planes or elevating rudders and the fins which greatly assist the operator in maintaining proper control. of the machine and which, in the event of the operator losing control of the machine, acts to automatically restore stability of the aeroplane and thus prevent dangerous accidents.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, as new, is:

1. In a biplane, a straight upper main plane, a lower dihedral main plane, ailerons parallel with related ends of said lower main plane, and rear elevating planes parallel with related ends of said lower main plane.

2. In a biplane, a straight upper main plane, a lowerdihedral'main plane, ailerons disposed at a dihedral angle to each other similarto the dihedral angle of said lower main plane, and elevating planes disposed "at a dihedral angle to each other similar to the dihedral angle of ,said lower main 'a dihedral angle to each other, and elevating planes arranged at a dihedral angle to each other, all, of said dihedral angles being normally equal. I

In testimony whereof, I aliix my signature, in the presence of two WltIlGSSGS.

, HUMPHREY R. WARD.

\Vitnesses HARRY L. RICHEY,

JOHN A. BOMMHARDT. 

